Lucky Chops brings blend of brass, dance music

After spending several years as a touring musician with different bands, the trombonist felt something was missing: his high school band Lucky Chops.

"I saw all these professional, full-time musicians and I wondered where the love, the passion and energy was that Lucky Chops had when we were in high school," Holcomb said. "It seemed the music industry was lacking this life and joy than when we played together."

He gave the five of them a call and asked them to quit their jobs and re-form a band.

They all said yes. The brass band was back together.

The group met while attending LaGuardia Arts High School in Manhattan, the school "Fame" is based on. Following graduation they drifted to separate colleges and jobs before reconnecting, thanks to Holcomb.

Rebecca Perry / Courtesy of Lucky Chops

Lucky Chops, a brass band with elements of EDM music, will perform at the Ferguson Center Sunday.

Lucky Chops, a brass band with elements of EDM music, will perform at the Ferguson Center Sunday. (Rebecca Perry / Courtesy of Lucky Chops)

They reunited with the goal of bringing high-energy performances with a dancing beat similar to what's in electronic dance music, known as EDM.

"I think all of us are very strange, but we're all very passionate, emotional and outgoing," Holcomb said. "That comes through in our playing. That's what we're all about."

The band consists of baritone and tenor saxophones, trombone, drums, innuendo, trumpet and sousaphone.

"You can really mix such powerful emotions with those instruments," Holcomb said. "The music we're interested in as individuals is incredibly diverse. We use our band as a way to tie it all together."

Lucky Chops began performing in the New York City subway and filming cinematic music videos to distribute online. When a tourist from South America posted a video of the band during one its subway performances, Lucky Chops popularity exploded.

"They opened us up to a global and enthusiastic fan base," Holcomb said. "It's unbelievable to look at the analytics online. You can see where a lot of your views and fans are coming from."

The majority of Lucky Chops online views come from Mexico, Brazil and Germany.

"We're hitting more than 15 markets in Germany and they're all selling out or old out," Holcomb said. "The United States is way down that on the list, which is so funny."

No matter where the band plays, Holcomb said it's always a powerful experience to see the audience sing along to their lyric-less music.

"It's so beautiful to see people singing along to our original songs and they don't have lyrics. They'll just sing along to their own made up syllabus," he said. "It hits us every time like a sack of bricks."

Newport News is the sixth stop on Lucky Chops' U.S. tour, its first in the country. Shows will be a mix of the polished, refined music associated with brass instruments and a mix of untamed energetic bursts that Lucky Chops make up on the spot.

"We really believe that music can be a tool for spreading positivity, joy, love and unification," Holcomb said. "It's our mission to really go for it and spread as much love as we can. We take that call seriously."